On October 19, 2021, Disney officially launched their new Disney Genie service at the Walt Disney World Resort. My family was there and we were excited to see if it lived up to Disney’s promises.
I downloaded the new My Disney Experience update and got to work at 6:30 am before Lightning Lanes could be selected at 7:00 am. My travel party was 6 (one child, 3 adults, 2 grandparents) in 2 rooms. Even though everyone was properly linked in my My Disney Experience account, I was a little worried if this might be a complication. It wasn’t! I was able to purchase Genie+ for all 6 people at the same time.
While I was waiting for 7:00 I went through a quick tutorial on the Magic Kingdom provided by Disney Genie. I selected attractions, dining, and experiences that were “my favorites” to populate the Tip Board. The Tip Board is the free itinerary portion of Disney Genie.
Immediately at 7:00 am I purchased Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as an Individual Lightning Lane. The whole process took less than a minute! I confirmed my party, chose my time, selected payment information, and it completed. I then grabbed our first Genie+ Lightning Lane for Peter Pan’s flight, another attraction with long standby times.
Due to the grandparents and the stroller in our party, we knew we would be taking a leisurely pace throughout the day so we did not rush to be the first ones in the Magic Kingdom. We went straight to Peter Pan’s Flight and walked on, skipping the 45 minute standby line!
I knew The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was on my daughter’s must-do list. I grabbed that as my next Genie+ Lightning Lane and saw that the time overlapped with Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. The Winnie the Pooh exit is right across from the Seven Dwarfs entrance. Perfect!
When we boarded Winnie the Pooh, its wait time was up to 35 minutes. We walked right on and then jumped straight to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. At that point, Seven Dwarfs was a 65 minute wait – skipping that was absolutely worth $10 per rider for us!
When you enter the Lightning Lane at an attraction, you scan your MagicBand at the entrance. You then scan it again when you’ve walked all the way up to the point where they position you to board the attraction. It’s after this second “check-in” that your Genie+ Lightning Lane selection is considered redeemed and you can select your next one. On a few rides like Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean I selected our next attraction while actually riding! If someone in your party hasn’t scanned their MagicBand the second time, they will show up as “not eligible” when trying to book your next selection. Since I was managing Disney Genie+ for everyone, I started being the last person in line at the final “check-in” location before boarding.
Throughout the day we saved 285 minutes using Genie+ Lightning Lanes and 65 minutes from our one Individual Lightning Lane purchase. That’s almost 6 hours of lines we didn’t stand it! During that time, we hit other shorter rides (often suggested by the new Tip Board), got snacks, took bathroom breaks, and took rest breaks for the grandparents. We even split into two different groups to have lunch at separate locations and then met up at the Haunted Mansion which had a 55 minute wait time. Disney Genie+ definitely helped our group have a magical day and accomplished far more than we could have done without it!
To book your Disney vacation, contact our friends at Mickey World Travel. They will make sure you have the most magical trip, by assisting you in planning your own vacation.
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Email: jeremy@mickeyworldtravel.com
